AKEL secures removal of retroactive fine waivers for illegal employers

On November 10, 2026, the Parliamentary Committee on Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance concluded its discussion on a government bill regarding administrative fines for employers involved in undeclared labor. Giorgos Koukoumas, AKEL Member of Parliament and Committee Chairman, announced that the committee successfully removed a provision that would have retroactively wiped out tens of millions of euros in unpaid fines for employers who violated labor laws. The Ministry of Labor has been requested to provide an updated list of corporate entities that have breached these regulations and failed to settle their outstanding debts.

During the same session, the committee assessed the government’s progress on its Active Aging Strategy. Koukoumas criticized the administration, stating that implementation is lagging significantly. He highlighted that one in three elderly citizens in Cyprus lives at risk of poverty—a rate twice the European average—while one in five people over 65 faces energy poverty. The committee continues to monitor these issues, emphasizing that the state currently fails to adequately support the country's 180,000 elderly residents despite government claims of economic development.